Hi, I'm Russell and I'm from NYC. I'm also new to IT. I started retraining over a year ago into networking. Finished my retraining in late July, and got my first job a few weeks later!
I use a Mac Pro at home. VMware Fusion is on it, which has allowed me to begin to learn Linux. Earlier this year, I might have been the greatest person alive at unintentionally wrecking Linux VMs. Unfortunately I've gotten a bit more skilled, so someone else probably has that crown now.
I have Red Hat on it, free from that developers program. I initially installed it as a very basic server, and then built it up with a GUI (MATE) to use in my home virtual lab. Through this I'm 'developing' Red Hat me.
My first IT job is a good one. It's in the financial sector with mostly normal hours. My company wanted someone green with no bad habits to unlearn. I'm being trained from the ground up, in networking and network security, to do things the company's way.
My work computer is a Dell with Windows on it. Not my first (or second or third...) choice for an OS, but I've got a job to do.
I likely won't be very active here over the next year or so because I need to focus on what my company wants me to learn at first. Ansible, when I get to it, will get me more active.
